Time-switch.



S. I. PHELPS.

TIME SWITCH.

APPLICATION FILED D150. 21, 1910.

1,073,707. Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

snnnme I. PHELPS, or BUCHANV'AN, MICHIGAN.

TIME-SWITCH.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 23, 1913.

Application filed December 21, 1916. Serial No. 598,655.

To all whom it may concern: 7

Be it known that I, SEBRING I. PHELPS, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Buchanan, Berrien county, State of Michigan, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Time- Switches, of which the following is a specification.

The main objects of this invention are to provide an improved form of current controlling device particularly adapted to reg ulate the interval. of time during which current maybe supplied to electric heating devices; to provide improved operating and switch mechanisms for devices of this kind; and to provide improved means for simultaneously controlling the operating and the switch mechanisms.

An illustrative embodiment of this invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is a reduced front elevation of a time switch constructed according to this invention. Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the operating mechanism, the casing being omitted. Fig. 3 is an end elevation of the same, as viewed from the left of Fig. 1, the casing being in section. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same, as shown in Fig. 2.

In the construction shownin the drawings, the operating mechanism comprises a clockwork or spring motor, supported by plates 1 and 2. These plates are secured together in spaced relation by the bolts 3, and supported on the back 4 by arms 5 connected to the rear ends of each of the bolts 3. The motor comprises a main rotary member or arbor 6 centrally journaled between the two plates 1 and 2 and connected by a gear 7 to the spring-driven gear 8. A balance wheel 9 and the usual escapement mechanism 10 control the speed of the arbor.

and is normally urged by the spring 13 into position to permit the detent 14, carried at its upperend, to engage the shaft of the balance wheel 9 and, by frictional contact therewith, hold the motor inactive. A cam 15 is mounted to rotate with the arbor 6 for shifting the lever 12 to cause the retraction of the detent 14 so as to permit the operation of the motor, and also to close the switch mechanism. The. "switch mechanism comprises a pair of spring contact members 16 and 17 mounted in spaced relation on a block of insulating material 18 secured to the A lever 12 is. pivotally mounted in front of the plate 1,"

back 4. A pair of conductors 19 and 20 extend through the block of insulating material 18 and have their ends respectively connected to the contact members 16 and 17. The contact members 16 and 17 are so located that a third contact member or plug 21 is adapted to enter between and engage both of such contact members 16 and 17 when the lever 12 is retracted by the cam 15 and thereby complete the circuit through the conductors 19 and 20. The member or plug 21 is mounted on an arm 22 formed of insulating material and secured to the lever 12.

A detent 23 is pivoted to the plate 1 at 24 and is normally urged by the spring 13 so as to bring its shoulder 25 into position to engage a lug 26 on the lever 12 when the detent 23 is released by the cam 15. The detent 23 is extended beyond the shoulder 25 so as to bear against the periphery of the cam 15, whereby it is normally held in its retracted position, except during a certain angular movement of the cam 15, during which, on

account of the shape of the cam, it is re leased to permit the engagement of said shoulder and lug. A small bell-crank lever or pawl 27 is pivotally mounted at the upper end of the lever 12, and is urged by the spring 28 to bear against the periphery of the cam 15. The spring 28 also tends to hold the pawl 27 in a normal position rela from the shoulder 25; whereupon the spring 28 tends to instantly restore the pawl 27 and lever 12 to their normal relative positions, whereby the lever 12 is shifted against the action of the spring 13 carrying the plug 21 into engagement with the contact members 16 and 17. A ball or striker 29 is formed on the end of the lever 12, so that when the lever is released by the cam 15 it will strike the bell 30 and inform the operator that the circuit has been opened. The bell 30 is supported on a bracket 31 secured to the back 4. The back 4 is secured to a casing 32 so as to bring the dial 33 into registerlng positlon with the circular opening 34 in the front of the cam 15 allows ment of the cam 15,

the casing. A. hand or pointer is fixed to the arbor 6 and adapted to rotate about the dial 33 for indicating the relative position of the switch mechanism. In the form shown, the gearing is so designed that the hand 35 would make one complete revolution of the dial 33 in sixty minutes if the motor were allowed to operate continuously. .In the drawings, the dial33 has thirty graduations indicated thereon, which begin at the top and extend around to the left, every fifth graduation being numbered, The shaft of the spring-driven gear 8 has a squared end 36 protruding through an aperture in the dial 33, to which a winding key may be fit: ted for rewinding the clockwork.

The operation of the device is as follows: The normal position of the hand 35 isat zero, as shown in Fig. 1, in which position the spring 13 to shift the lever 12, sofas to bring the contact plug 21 out of engagement with the contact members, 16 and 1f? and causathe detent 14 to engage the shaftof the escapement wheel 9 and hold the motor inactive. When. it is desired to use the current,'the operator turns the hand 35 around the dial 33 in the direction of the arrow 37, to the number thereon which indicates the number of'minutes during which the current is to be used. This will necessitate the turning of the hand as far, at least, as the number 30, which, in the device shown, is the initial position of the hand for starting the motor. This initial movement of the hand 35 rotates the cam 15 and causes the release of the detent 23 so as to allow it to be shifted to cause the engagement of theshoulder 25 with the lug 26, whereby the lever 12 is locked until the de-' tent 23 has again been retracted by the cam. Since the lever 12 is temporarily locked in its normal position, during this initial movethe pawl 27 is forced by said cam to the right of Fig. 2, against the action of the spring 28. When the hand 35 reaches said initial posit-ion, the cam 15 again engages the detent 23 and retracts it from engagement with the lug 26, whereupon the spring 28 tends to bring the lever 12 and the pawl 27 into their normal relative positions, and the pawl 27 bearing against the periphery of the cam causes the lever 12 to instantly swing to the position indicated in dot-ted outline in Fig. 2. This movement of the lever 12 brings the plug 21 into engagement with the contact members 16 and 17, thereby completing the circuit through the conductors 19 and 20. Such movement of the lever 12 also retracts the pawl 14, whereupon the motor is started and continues the rotation of the hand 35 about the dial. When the hand 35 reaches its uppermost or zero position, the cam recedes from the pawl 27 and the spring 13 shifts the lever 12 to its normal position, whereupon the plug 21 is disengaged from the contact members 16 'and 17 and the detent 14 is moved into engagement with the shaft of theescapement wheel 9. This movement of the lever 12 also causes the striker 29 to strike the bell 30, to inform the operator thatthe circuit-hasbeen opened.

Although but one specific embodiment of this invention has been herein shown and described, it Willbe understood that numerous details of the constructionshown may be altered or omitted without departing from the spirit of this invention as defined by the following claims.

I claim:

1. In a device of the class'described, the combination of a rotary member, a motor connected to rotate said member in one direction, a. detent normally urged into position to hold said motor inactive, means for manually rotating said member in said one direct-ion, means adapted through such manual rotation of said member to retract said detent to permit said motor to continue the rotation of said member, and a switch adapted to be closed and opened by said member at certain respective positions of said member during the rotation thereof.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotary member, a motor connected to rotate said member in one direction, a detent normally urged into posi tion to hold said motor inactive, means for manually rotating said member in said one direction, means adapted through such manual rotation of said member to retract said detent to permit said motor to continue the rotation of said member, a switch, and means carried by said member and adapted to close said switch when said member is rotated manually to release said detent and adapted to automatically open said switch when said member has completed a predetermined angular movement continued in said one direction.

3. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a rotary member adapted to have a certain complete angular movement in one direction, a motor connected to rotate said member, a detent normally urged into position to hold said motor inactive, means for manually rotating said member through a certain portion of said angular movement, means adapted through such manual rotation of said member to retract said detent to permit said motor to continue the rotation of said member, a switch, and mechanism controlled by said member for opening said switch when said member has completed said angular movement.

4:- In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotary member, a motor connected to rotate said member, a lever normally urged into position to hold said motor inactive,

a shoulder on said lever, a 1

detent normally urged into a position to engage said shoulder, a cam carried by said rotary member and adapted to normally hold said detent in a retracted posit-ion and adapted, when said member is given a certain angular movement, to release said d'etent to permit it to engage said shoulder, resilient means acting between said lever and cam and adapted to yield during that part of the angular movement of said cam during which said detent is in engagement with said lug, and being adapted to shift said lever to its retracted position to release said motor when said detent is released, and a switch adapted to be closed by said lever when shifted to said retracted position.

5. In a device of the class described, the

combination of a rotary member,'a motor connected to rotate said member, a lever normally urged into position to hold said motor inactive, a shoulder on said lever, a detent normally urged into a position to engage said shoulder, a cam carried by said rotary member and adapted to normally hold said detent in a retracted position and adapted, when said member is given a certain angular movement, to release said detent to permit it to engage said shoulder, a relatively movable part carried by said lever and adapted to be engaged by said cam for urging said lever toward a retracted position to release said motor, yielding means acting between said part and said lever and adapted to urge said part toward a normal position relative to. said lever, said part being adapted to yield when engaged by said cam and when said detent is in engagement with said shoulder, and being adapted to shift said lever to releasesaid motor when said detent is retracted, and a switch adapted to be closed when said lever is shifted to said retracted position.

6.,In a device of the class described, the combination of a rotary member, a motor connected to rot-ate said member, a lever normally urged into position to hold said motor inactive, a shoulder on said lever, a detent normally urged intg a position to engage said shoulder, a cam carried by said rotary member and adapted to normally hold said detent in a retracted position and adapted, when said member is given a certain angular movement, to release said detent to permit it to engage said shoulder, a pawl pivotally mounted on said lever and adapted to be engaged by said cam for urging said lever toward a position to release said motor, a spring normally urging said pawl and lever intotheir normal relative posit-ions, said pawl being adapted to yield when engaged by said cam and When said detent is in engagement with said shoulder, and being adapted to shift said lever to release said motor when said detent is retracted, and a switch adapted to be closed when said lever is shifted to said retracted position.

Signed at Buchanan this 16th day of Dec., 1910.

p SEBRING I. PHELPS. Witnesses:

' C. F. PEARS,

IREMUS SPARKS. 

